1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to refrigerators, and more particularly, to a refrigerator with an icemaker of an improved structure, which can dispense ice pieces from a dispenser provided to a refrigerator door.
2. Background of Related Art
The refrigerator is used for long time fresh storage of food. The refrigerator has food storage chambers each of which temperature is maintained in a low temperature state by a refrigerating cycle, for fresh storage of the food.
There are a plurality of storage chambers of different characteristics, so that the user can select storage methods suitable for storage of various kinds of food, taking kinds and characteristics of food and required storage time periods into account. Of the storage chambers, the refrigerating chamber and the freezing chamber are typical.
The refrigerating chamber is maintained at about 3° C.˜4° C. for long time fresh storage of food and vegetable, and the freezing chamber is maintained at a subzero temperature for long time storage of meat and fish in a frozen state, and making and storage of ice pieces. In general, the refrigerating chamber has a volume greater than the freezing chamber, and the freezing chamber is allocated over the refrigerating chamber.
In the meantime, recently, other than the foregoing traditional functions of the refrigerator, the refrigerator has been developed to have a variety of additional functions. For an example, for drinking cold water in the refrigerating chamber, in the related art, the user is required to open the door, and take out a water bottle from the refrigerating chamber.
However, recently, a refrigerator provided with a water dispenser to an outside of a refrigerator door is developed, for dispensing cold water cooled down by cold air in the refrigerating chamber, enabling the user supplied with, and drink the cold water at outside of the refrigerator without opening the door. Moreover, refrigerators each having a water purifying function added to the water dispenser are spread.
In general, the water dispenser is provided to a door on the refrigerating chamber for easy supplied of water from the refrigerating chamber to an outside of the refrigerator. However, since the refrigerating chamber is allocated under the freezing chamber, the water dispenser can not, but be provided at a relatively low position. According to this, for using the water dispenser, the user is required to bend forward.
In the meantime, when the user drinks water, and when the user cooks food, the user uses ice, frequently. For using ice thus, it is required to open the door on the freezing chamber, and separate ice from an ice tray.
Moreover, the opening of the door on the freezing chamber for using the ice causes escaping to cold air from the freezing chamber to an outside of the refrigerator, resulting in temperature rise of the freezing chamber, to required more work of the compressor that consumes an energy.